


Romantically Challenged

by atroxareia



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Everything will change, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Rating will change, except they wont get any less dumb, valentine's day & white day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-03-31 07:09:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13969920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atroxareia/pseuds/atroxareia
Summary: Oikawa never imagined his less than eloquently given chocolate which he had been sure to be ignored by the recipient could ever cause this.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Very late "occasion-fic" with upcoming accidental plot ~! OK, more like, an excuse to write smut, lol. I'm not sure how long this will be, but we'll see.
> 
> For people who aren't familiar with these traditions in Japan, not that I can claim to be the expert, but obligation chocolate is.. what the name implies, lol. Girls give these without a romantic meaning attached, and they’re usually store-bought than home-made, and as far as I know, home-made implies romantic intentions or it's preferred when that’s the aim. And white day is when boys give return gifts, it’s usually also (white) chocolate but sometimes.. not :^)

 

Oikawa shifted in his chair nervously while he waited for the bell to ring, tapping his fingers on the book he was supposed to be reading, with a hint of anger at himself and the person responsible for awakening the feeling. Normally, today was a day he enjoyed the attention that was so eagerly given, slight guilt at the awareness that none of the confessions he received were ever going to be reciprocated suppressed by the the significant accumulation of chocolate most of which happened to be his favorite – white almond - but this year wasn’t like the ones came before. Little packages on his desk only served to unnerve him further as shiny pretty reminders of what he was going to do later the same day; the evidence hidden in his bag, wrapped up, secure inside a big zippered pocket. For a moment he pondered in panic if his fiendish friends had pushed him to take this action they knew was going to fail since misery loved company rather than wanting the best for him.

“You’re really cowardly,” Matsukawa had said last week during lunch, accompanied by murmurs of agreement while Oikawa stood shell-shocked at the words that followed. “Everyone knows you like him either way,” he shrugged, as if the first blow hadn’t been enough. “You already called him cute in front of everyone,” he continued smoothly, which was at that point equal of kicking someone on the ground, “so you may as well grow a pair and ask him out.” He resumed eating afterwards like it was nothing. Oikawa suffered for a week afterwards, then decided to get over himself and at least suffer for something he _did_ do.

He sighed at the memory - the process had been painful and embarrassing, but he had operated under the assumption that it would get less nerve-racking as the hour of judgment ticked closer like it happened in tournaments, except this time he seemed to get more and more wound-up, thoughts becoming more intrusive. He tried not to think too deeply, but his mind kept wandering to places it definitely shouldn’t – _what if Kageyama got any presents from anyone._ He tried to convince himself that girls probably would be too scared to talk to him. He allowed himself a little grin at the last thought, refusing to feel bad about enjoying the idea, until he realized with a sudden drop of his stomach that he was also scared.

 

-

 

If Kageyama was asked to describe his experience of the day, he would choose uncomfortable. He had listened to a number of girls fumble in front of him, then push the gift into his chest and run away before he could even react. And now Hinata was mad at him for reasons he could not care enough to inspect, but there was going to be hell to pay if this would end up affecting their performance during practice.

He shoved the boxes under his desk and tried to concentrate on the class, wishing he had ditched school today. Amidst dronings of the teacher, his phone vibrated.

 

Tobio, can you wait for me at the back of your school after the class?

whos this

Your best senpai!!!! ＼(＾▽＾)／

 

Kageyama noted the expression rather than the vague remark. There was only one person who would send such a thing.

 

-

 

“Hiya, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa waved at him, as if there was nothing out of ordinary. Kageyama frowned deeper in response. Was this an invitation to duel or something? He doubted Oikawa was the type for physical fighting, he seemed more likely to flee if someone made a move. He gave him a once-over and noted he was somewhat fidgety, which wasn’t a particularly helpful info.

“How’s your day going?”

“Fine,” Kageyama answered, confusion increasing every moment.

There was a pause where Oikawa stared at him with the same overly happy expression plastered on his face like a mask.

“Okay, so, I was wondering about my kouhai, you know it’s valentine’s day and all and I was sad that you probably didn’t get any chocolate, so I wanted to remedy that!”

Kageyama didn’t even get a chance to feel offended at the remark before he was handed a prettily wrapped up package and got pushed back a little from the force Oikawa put behind the movement.

“Think of me while eating it,” he added, winking, before he skipped away far too fast for someone carefree.

Kageyama stared at his back with the little package in his hand, in an even bigger confusion.

 

-

 

 _Think of me while eating it?_ Oikawa repeated to himself, wanting to hit his head on the wall, hissing the moment he was out of the school grounds, heart still pounding with excitement and embarrassment. _What the hell was that? How did I even say something like that out loud,_ he groaned, remembering the wink that accompanied it, wanting earth to open and swallow him up. 

He prayed for forgetfulness and felt grateful that at least his former underclassmen wasn’t a chatterbox, so at least its shame would die with him.

 

-

 

Kageyama eyed the chocolate box he put on the furthermost corner of his desk once he was home as if he waited for something to pop out of it. After few minutes of intense glaring, he gave in and opened it. It really _was_ chocolate which was already enough of a surprise but most importantly it was home-made and obviously pretty meticulously prepared. He resumed his glaring, getting even more confused than he was before. What Oikawa said didn’t make any sense either. Kageyama still couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea Oikawa actually may have baked these for him, but thinking that he may have handed him the the gift someone else gave him didn’t exactly answer the question why either. He was neither the type to act so callous about someone's romantic feelings for him, nor the one to make practical jokes. So did he actually mean to confess? No, that was even less likely. Was this given to congratulate him on his performance in the last tournament? That seemed more logical, but that wasn't saying much. Was this a poorly devised murder attempt? Kageyama frowned at the pieces sitting in their little places as if they had already committed an unforgivable crime against him. That wouldn't be the case, would it? Without even a slight change of expression, he dared to eat one. It tasted good - seemingly nonpoisonous – and it was even hazelnut filled, incidentally his favorite. He frowned further as Oikawa’s parting words echoed in his mind.

_'Think of me while eating it’? What the hell?_

Kageyama continued to think about Oikawa in puzzlement, now also amazed that he managed to bake something so delicious.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so in a strange way Oikawa succeeded


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama worries about Oikawa's calorie intake and Oikawa needs new friends.

 

He considered lying to his friends.

Really, it would solve most of his problems. He could have just said _he chose not to give him the gift after all_ and accept being cowardly, maybe cover it up with an all-too-polished shrug of perfect indifference – which was obviously the most logical choice – or he could have just skipped some details here and there, like the wink and his little speech and the fact that he ran off and instead act like it had gone perfectly well; he had given the gift in an impervious smoothness and Kageyama was so affected he almost showed an emotional reaction. Oikawa wished he could have used the much-dreamt-of scenario of his darling Tobio-chan bursting into tears in the face of chivalry and poise his former senpai had displayed, but he knew exactly _this_ sort of greed was what would ruin the credibility of his _slightly_ altered story. Really, omission was his best shot.

Except they were like bloodhounds, his damn unworthy friends, and he was the worst liar around. One look and a following rise of eyebrows from Matsukawa, Oikawa already knew that it was all over. And that was half an hour ago – Oikawa had continued to stab his food with chopsticks after begrudgingly telling the whole story and the immediate realization of how he really _was_ betrayed by people whom he called his friends, trying to hide how dejected he was feeling without success while the topic changed, reliving the moment.

 _“You actually gave him chocolate?”_ Matsukawa had said, in genuine disbelief, which immediately pulled Oikawa into a state of panic, hating him for looking all-knowing just a moment ago and now acting all surprised.

“…Sort of?”

“You.. oh my god, _he gave Kageyama chocolate,”_ Matsukawa impatiently turned and started to nudge Hanamaki who seemed equally stunned, right before both of them bursting into laughter.

“Yes, you said I should, it was a great opportunity-“

“I was _kidding!”_

“I.. _I didn’t get that!”_ Oikawa yelped with his voice cracking, desperate to find a way to save his dignity. It wasn’t his fault that they seemed so serious back then!

“Where’s your common sense?”

“Remember who you’re asking that,” Iwaizumi grumbled without taking a break from inhaling his lunch.

“Get this?” Hanamaki turned to Iwaizumi who just shrugged disinterestedly in response.

“Wouldn’t be the first time he made a fool of himself in front of Kageyama,” he continued cruelly.

Oikawa didn’t have the energy to refute that, just sinking into himself even more, letting his head fall into his hands.

“Plus, I kinda figured he would take something like that seriously,” Iwaizumi added, right before the next bite.

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa exclaimed, almost in tears. “Why would you let me do it then.”

“You should have closure.”

“You knew it was gonna go terrible too? I’m surrounded by wolves in sheep clothing.”

“So you admit it went terribly.”

“You’re starting university soon,” Iwaizumi said flatly right after Matsukawa needled Oikawa. “I don’t wanna see you pining over your middle school crush like an idiot and make me look horrible too.”

“We aren’t even going to the same university!”

“Word gets around.”

“You think he’s gonna stop after this?” Hanamaki asked Iwaizumi while Matsukawa kept snickering.

“After a sufficient amount of moping.”

“Why do you all think I’m already rejected?”

They all turned to look at Oikawa with blank gazes, then resumed eating as if nothing happened.

Oikawa could not believe these strangers he once made the mistake of calling friends. He was never going to trust anything they say nor help them with their love lives like he had before. They did not deserve a pure hearted friend such as him.

And now the betrayers were conspiring about weekend plans.

“Hey, you’re in or what?”

“Huh?”

Matsukawa rolled his eyes.

“Weekend trip. And lighten up, it’s not the end of the world.”

“It is,” Oikawa whined and Matsukawa gave a little chuckle.

“I still can’t believe you did that,” he mused nostalgically, as if it happened years ago. “It’s cute in a way but.. Saying ‘probably no one gave chocolate to you’? Seriously? Were you _trying_ to get rejected?”

 “There wasn’t any better alternative,” he answered with a louder whine.

“ _Anything_ is a better alternative.”

“And you ran away, too,” Hanamaki jumped right in. “That’s my boy.”

“I didn’t run,” Oikawa pouted. “I just.. left very quickly.”

“You didn’t even wait for an answer.”

“He has a phone right? He can call me if he has anything to say!” Oikawa stopped abruptly, realizing his voice got too loud and now people were giving him weird looks.

“Butthurt much,” Iwaizumi piped in.

“You’re not helping.”

Iwaizumi gave out a deep sigh and pushed the empty tray away, folding his arms, looking like he was going to set everything right.

“Look, knowing Kageyama.. he probably is really confused right now.”

“What’s there to be confused about?” Hanamaki asked, not knowing the younger setter much, apart from how intense he got during games. “He’s given chocolate on valentine’s day. Pretty damn clear.”

“Yeah, but consider who gave it, and consider what he said.”

Oikawa groaned and buried his face into his hands again.

“You weren’t this thorough last week.”

“It’s because we thought you understood jokes.”

“Speak for yourself,” Iwaizumi said again.

“Well,” Oikawa folded his arms on his chest. “You guys said everyone knew I liked him except him and I was a coward for not doing anything.”

“That’s what set you off?” Matsukawa asked in disbelief. “If you were so bothered about your cowardice, you still could have chosen a much less dramatic action than buying him chocolate.”

“I didn’t buy him chocolate!”

“What, you baked them yourself?”

Oikawa paused a bit with his mouth open and missed the window for a believable lie.

"This just keeps getting better and better."

For a moment Oikawa looked terrorized over what he had just revealed as his friends howled into laughter, then he pouted and turned his face away in defense with an intense scowl.

“What, you expect me to give him some store-bought generic chocolate anyone can buy?”

“Oh, of course not,” Matsukawa said smoothly. “How could you _ever._ You obviously had to bake him chocolate like some lovestruck girl.”

Oikawa gave him the coldest look he could muster. He was truly among enemies.

 

-

 

Kageyama glared at the empty box, aggravated. He had eaten it all before he even noticed, and then it hit him: was this a ploy to fatten him up? If it really was, then Oikawa was wrong in assuming he could achive it with just a simple box of criminally delicious chocolate and he really needed to pay more attention to calorie calculations. If he was so bad at it, he might end up getting fat or too thin himself and Kageyama wouldn’t want something like that to happen to his favorite rival, Oikawa was in ideal shape. He had a well toned body, he wasn’t lanky, had a little baby fat on his cheeks that suited him quite well, Kageyama mused, playing around with the wrapping paper, thinking it would be such a shame if he lost his current looks due to poor education. Maybe he should have given him a call to make things clear and inform him that his devious plot wasn’t working. Or maybe ask for another box.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> due to poor educationdfjhsdgjdfg we all know which one of them has that problem 
> 
> Btw, oikageweek is starting soon and I will be participating with multiple works, 3rd chapter will be posted after the event. But more importantly, [OIKAGEWEEK](http://oikageweek.tumblr.com/post/170898136426/two-months-until-oikage-week) In case you guys are interested ^-^ We can never have too much oikage!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> desperate times, desperate measures

“What’s wrong with your face?”

“Huh?”

 “You look angrier than usual. What’s up?”

Kageyama had been thinking about what had happened on Valentine’s Day for the last two days. He was mostly surprised at first, then worried about his health considering who baked them, all the while expecting things to clear themselves up on their own, as they normally did. However, there had been  _nothing_. He supposed if this was a devious plan, it would be out in the open by now, but Oikawa did not even make a move to contact him. Or anything else he had no way of even conjuring. Instead he had this inexplicable, bizarre feeling like  _he_  was the one who was supposed to make a move, it was his turn now, but whenever the thought occurred to him, he got too frustrated in confusion as to why he even felt that way in his the first place. He had reflexively brushed Hinata’s question off that morning, thinking it was an absolutely terrible idea to let this piece of information out, it felt like something that would get out of hand very soon and very violently if he let it. But the times were changing. He could not let such distraction occupy his mind any longer after performing less than perfectly in the practice. So now, on the way home, Kageyama was about to do something truly desperate.  _Get Hinata’s opinion._

“Alright,” he spoke with a feeling of finality. “Someone I didn’t expect gave me chocolate.”

“Yes,” Hinata answered desparingly, rolling his eyes at the relatively dramatic declaration of which the content felt undeserving. “Half the school.  _I was there.”_

“No, someone from another school.”

Hinata raised his hands towards the sky like he was rebelling against gods.

 _“Other schools?_  Girls from  _other schools_  now? You’re shameless,” he said in pure hatred, drawing the attention of bypassers on himself.

“Shut the fuck up,” Kageyama hissed, mostly just to brush it off and continue his story, not getting as mad as usual for his focus was on what he was planning to tell. “Okay, the person who gave me chocolate is an upperclassman.”

 _“An older girl?!”_  Hinata downright screamed this time. “How do you get to be so lucky,” he whined but his curiosity triumphed over his despair quickly. “2nd year?”

“No.”

The fact the reactions were getting progressively louder was beginning to disturb Kageyama.

“What does that even matter?”

Hinata narrowed his eyes, then shook his head, grim and serious.

“If you need an explanation, then I doubt you’ll even know where to put it.” 

“What the-”

“Older girls put out,” he whispered hauntingly, as if the information carried the weight of the world and he was never going to recover.

“That just,” Kageyama sputtered in indignation. “That doesn’t mean that,  _all,.._  would.”

“And it means she likes you a lot.” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“Because,” Hinata punctuated. “It takes a lot of gall to ask a younger boy out.”

Kageyama's face twitched when he thought of Oikawa in the context. Did that really mean the same in their case? Was he being an idiot for taking it seriously?

Kageyama stalled behind Hinata, absorbed in the imagery. Was there a blush on Oikawa’s face when he was speaking to him? Kageyama wished he had been more careful, but he was caught too off guard to pay any close attention to the details. He only could remember getting mad at the comment about how he wouldn’t get any chocolate, then feeling surprised at the little box in his hands, waiting for it to explode or do something equally drastic as Oikawa skipped away like an overgrown fairy. He couldn’t rule out the possibility Oikawa actually meant it as a confession, but there had been no further communication between them that would support this theory. Or did the lack of contact from Oikawa actually aid this theory? Was Kageyama the one who was supposed to initiate it now? Why would he even want to do that? And why was he so preoccupied with this? 

Hinata was looking positively destroyed when Kageyama chased the thoughts that were fast becoming pleasing and turned to face his friend threateningly.

“If you ever tell anyone about this, I’ll make sure no one finds your corpse.”

“Why, too afraid Tanaka-san and Noya-san will kill you out of jealousy?”

Kageyama narrowed his eyes and Hinata caved in.

“Fine, I won’t. It’s not like I wanna brag about being your wingman or something.”

“You’re not my wingman.”

“Just let me have this,” Hinata cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing kageyama's thoughts drains my life energy


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cant believe i made them even sillier 
> 
> yes i can actually

* * *

Iwaizumi sighed in irritation. He knew he was half to blame for this mess but now that things were slowly going out of hand and Oikawa was not showing any signs of recovery, he had to do something about it. After spending the day annoyed at the whole school being unreasonably preoccupied with Oikawa’s change of mood, which could have changed his mind about letting him confess had he foreseen it, he had no choice to visit Oikawa. 

"So," Iwaizumi started with a tone he hoped sounded understanding right after settling on the floor next to a sulking Oikawa, "Is that a voodoo doll of Kageyama?"

"Kageyama?" Oikawa looked up at his friend with big, innocent eyes that were creepy in how blank they were. "I don't know who that is."

"Oh, so we're on that denial phase now."

"I'm sorry what? I didn't quite catch that," Oikawa continued with the serene smile that was starting to get both on his nerves and freak Iwaizumi out. It was going to be hard to stay _understanding_ for the rest of the talk. 

"You didn't did you now," he murmured, more to himself. "So whose voodoo doll is that then?"

"What? That's just my regular doll."

"A regular doll. You have a regular doll. With needles sticking out."

"It fell on them."

" _The_ _doll_ _fell_ _on_ _needles."_

"Yes," Oikawa sighed, getting all impatient. "Is that all you’ve come here for?"

"No, today I kept hearing that you were acting strangely," Iwaizumi continued, without mentioning what he heard was in fact a bunch of girls sobbing inconsolably because their precious Oikawa-san did not return their regular enthusiastic greeting and walked past them with a blank face, which was ironically the actual cause of this mess would do indiscriminately. Iwaizumi kept that thought to himself. 

"I'm not acting anything at all," Oikawa frowned this time, expression turning genuine with a rare bout of seriousness.

"Err, yes," Iwaizumi scratched his head, it was true. Oikawa made a point of keeping his nice facade intact, he hated being rude, but it all fell apart the instant he did not feel like it. "That's kind of the point, really. You stopped acting nice to everyone and are fast becoming a recluse who plays with dolls."

"I'm not playing with it."

"So what is it that you do with it- wait, let me ask something more important," Iwaizumi raised his hand in front of him while Oikawa watched him with growing irritation. "Where did you get that doll? Did you sew it yourself? I shouldn't be so surprised after the whole chocolate baking thing but I feel that you're taking it too far."

Oikawa narrowed his eyes.

"I have never baked chocolates in my life and that will be the official record."

Iwaizumi sighed and changed positions to directly face Oikawa, testing the limits of his patience. 

"Look," he started, once again taking the tone he reserved for the special occasions that he could not solve by hitting someone. "Oikawa. This is your first rejection - stop hissing, that's what it is - and I know it's harder at first but you'll get used to it in time. You just needed closure.”

"What the hell, Iwa-chan? ‘ _Get_ _used_ _to_ _rejection?’_ I’m not you?”

Iwaizumi solemnly nodded, acting like he did not hear the outburst. His calmness only lasted five more seconds. 

 

 -

 

When Iwaizumi went back to his home after a usual episode of yelling, Oikawa threw himself on the bed, and the reality came screaming back at him.

Oikawa still could not believe his stupid, adorable, stupid, _stupid_ _twice_ _over_ kouhai did not even give him a call! The nerve of the brat! Hadn't done anything! After Oikawa did something so obvious and meaningful! At the very least he could have turned him down respectfully (Oikawa mentally hit himself for even conjuring up the thought but he at least had to keep a little tie to the reality) and thank him for his gesture, maybe a cute little addition of a thoughtful compliment, an explanation - ‘Sorry but I’m not into guys, though if I were, you’d be my first choice’ which was the only acceptable answer to Oikawa -  but he got nothing!

This was horrid. Oikawa was going to carry the shame and hatred to his grave. This was without a doubt the worst, the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to him. Served him right for falling for his rival, he supposed. 

...Then the supressed thought of that one occasion that would compete in shaming him which his treacherous friends used to coerce him slithered back to his mind; when he had a slip and called him cute in front of everyone. He had been grateful back then that he had an excuse to run away right after and Kageyama did not seem to pay any heed to it for whatever reason. If it was him, he would use such a slip till eternity. But for what reason did Kageyama ignore such a great weapon? Even taken as a joke, it would still be embarrassing. Did Kageyama care that little that it barely registered? Or..so bothered that he wouldn’t mention it even to demean his rival? Did he actually.. dislike it? _Dislike.. him?_

Oikawa bit his lip, feeling anxiety creep. That was infinitely worse. He had always tried not to think of _that_ being a possibility..

He screamed in frustration. 

 _Stupid_ _Tobio_ - _chan_ , he murmured while hugging his pillow, wondering if the whole thing occupied Kageyama’s mind at all. His kouhai probably only thought of him regarding volleyball related situations. Hell, he probably only thought of voleyball. Oikawa gave out a deep sigh and reached a shallow level of temporary acceptance before entering a sleep filled with awkward dreams where Kageyama called him cute and ran away promptly from the scene of the crime instead.  

 

 -

 

"So, how is he?" Hanamaki asked with his mouth full during their outing on saturday which Oikawa did not attend. 

"Stabbing voodoo dolls in corners. Literally."

"Seriously though,” Matsukawa intervened, now that the joke had lost its effect. “Isn’t it too early to enter the mourning period? Maybe the guy’ll do something on white day.”

Iwaizumi made a thoughtful sound, not having considered much about the situation. "Ah yeah, that's the tradition. Though i don't know if Kageyama would care.” _Is_ _he_ _even_ _into_ _guys?_ Iwaizumi wondered briefly, he just never could seem to tell. Except Oikawa, but that was a special case, anyone with eyes could see it from miles away.

"Tell Oikawa about it."

"Ah, yeah, I really should," Iwaizumi said before promptly forgetting all about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which iwaizumi continues to be a horrible friend lol
> 
> TBH oikawa with a kageyama doll + hugging pillows “stupid tobio-chan >///< uuhhh”= my fav things 
> 
> ps the doll will come backssgfscsc it is a part of the *gasp* plot
> 
> also FOR REAL NEVER GONNA BE OVER THAT HE DEADASS CALLED HIM CUTE IN FRONT OF EVERYONE AND RAN AWAY IN MANGA LIKE . pls god. get married already


End file.
